Sol LeWitt at Mass MoCA

Teenagers are not always the most reliable art critics, but when the Edmund Burke School cross country team returned home from their annual preseason training in Vermont with most members raving about the Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) it is hard not to take note.

The Sol LeWitt retrospective includes 100 pieces of LeWitt’s work created from 1968 to 2007. The exhibition was conceived by the artist and Jock Reynolds, the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery, before LeWitt's death in 2007.

In life, LeWitt often stated that the idea behind his work was more important than the actual execution. LeWitt is considered one of the leaders of minimalism and conceptual art. He is known primarily for his simple, elegant geometric structures and his incredible dynamic wall drawings. LeWitt’s experiments with wall drawings began in 1968 and were considered radical at the time, partially because LeWitt also sought help from other artists and students with both the creation and installation of his huge works of art.

Before you go see the exhibition, be sure to visit the museum website and watch the time lapse photography documenting the creation and installation of Sol LeWitt’s enormous creations. The coordination of workers is reminiscent of a symphony conductor. The precision with which the artist works stands in sharp contrast with temporal quality of his art. Artists, students and art patrons unable to make the long trek up the I95 corridor to see the museum will also find the creation and installation process shown in the slide shows very instructive.

The Sol LeWitt retrospective is a collaboration between Yale University Art Gallery, Mass MoCA, and the Williams College Museum of Art. The installed exhibition will remain on view through 2033.

Mass MoCA opened in May 30, 1999. The museum complex sits on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings in North Adams, Massachusetts. The museum compound occupies nearly one-third of the North Adams downtown business district. Mass MoCA claims it is the largest center for contemporary arts in the United States. According to museum officials, "the institution is dedicated to the creation and presentation of provocative visual and performing arts pieces, and of works that blur conventional distinctions between artistic disciplines."

Mass MoCA is located at 1040 Mass MoCA Way in North Adams, Massachusetts. The museum is open during the winter (September 9, 2009 - June 25, 2010) from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, except Tuesday when the museum is closed. Tours are conducted during the winter at 2:00 p.m. on weekdays and noon and 3:00 pm on weekends. Tours are included in the admission fee. In the summer the Mass MoCA museum hours are extended to 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day and tours are offered more frequently. Admission fees are $15 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for children ages 6 to 16. The museum is free for children 5 and under and for members.

Mass MoCa has a combined admission package with The Clark for $22.50 (through October 31, 2009) and with the Norman Rockwell Museum for $25. Mass MoCa is about a seven and one half hour drive from Washington, DC.